Reflections of Me: A Long and Winding Winter
Winter. It just won't go away. Where I am at, it hasn't been bad; cooler than usual for this time of year, enough rain to drown a whale, but interspersed with some beautiful Spring weather. Where I grew up, in the midwest, I see the coming weekend will bring yet another snow storm. Somebody forgot to tell Winter it is approaching mid-April. It needs to shut up and crawl back into Sarah Palin's heart where it belongs.
Last month, a hero, no, a idol of mine passed. Nokie Edwards, the lead guitarist/bassist of the instrumental surf band The Ventures, passed away. He, along with George Harrison, motivated my interest in guitar, and music, and I drove myself ( and everyone around me, I presume ) crazy with my attempts to play like either or both of them. I never succeeded, of course, as along the way I was influenced by a few others and ended up developing my own style, which was, I suppose, passable. I was never happy with it, but some were, enough so that I didn't lack for work in the field for a long while. I can no longer play ( physical reasons ) but I have never lost the pleasure of listening to those I so wanted to be. Thankfully, the music still can be heard, and should be, so the greats never really leave us. In their talent lies the secret of immortality.
The 2018 baseball season has begun, and my team, the San Francisco Giants, have been interesting to watch, after the disastrous 2017 season they had. As a fan, one should not be under the misconception that they have a chance at the playoffs ( baseball and playoffs...grrrr...), but the scant off season moves they made seem to have sparked a resurgence of sorts. Early key injuries -- a Giants tradition, one could say -- again cast doubt, but they are currently playing .500 ball. A vast improvement over 2017, even as early as this. They key factors thus far that I have seen are pitching, and defense. Both have been far better than I expected. Offensively, this team is not a lot different than last year's. However, if they can scratch out 3 or 4 runs, they have a chance now. And if they can take a lead into the late innings, a victory is possible. By this time last season it was obvious that having a lead in the 7th inning or later didn't mean anything; they would lose anyway. So far, not this season. I like what I have seen. Hopefully I will still like it once they have 40 or 50 games under their belts.
I see James Comey is coming out with a book. Most of us know who Comey is; those who don't, well, this IS the internet. You can look him up. A lot of Americans ( and more than a few folks from other Nations ) hold him responsible for tilting the last Presidential Election toward Donald Trump. I know I did. Still do, though I have come to realize I am being a bit unreasonable in that, given the outcome of the vote. Of course, he was also fired by the new President for a variety of reasons, none of which had anything to do with how he performed his job. In this new era of Civil Service Apprentice ( which is how Mr. Trump performs his Presidential duties ), a simple lack of offering a blood oath to the High Lord and Master Trump is enough. Not even published yet, the book alleges to offer some interesting insights into Mr. Trump. This has of course, so predictably, incited vociferous reaction from The Trump Zoo, with the White House flinging numerous insults and whiny comments directly at Mr. Comey. Disturbingly similar to baboons flinging feces at anyone foolish enough to loiter near their cages.
I honestly do not know if I will read it. Perhaps. It might be interesting. It is certainly a part of the history being made right now, and as such, is worth reading. If one is a Trump supporter, they will likely not read it, since it appears to be detrimental to the President and they will consider it as a pack of lies and fake recollections. If one is, on the other hand, a actual human being, one might read it only because it reaffirms their low opinion of the President as a person, so that even lies and exaggerations can be accepted as believable based on what we already know about the feces flinger. We don't need to, however, since we already consider the clown to be a dip-doodle; we are more concerned with the damage he and his little band of orangutans are doing to our republic and our Constitution. I probably should get it, though, while I can, because I strongly suspect that one of the current administration's goals is to ban and/or censor any material that even hints at being critical of the orange ape.
Just a while ago, it was announced that we ( the U.S.A. ), in a joint operation with the U.K. and France, sent air strikes to three targets in Syria. In response to the current Syrian regime's use of chemical warfare against it's own people. It has been announced this is a 'one and done' strike. And, to be honest, I am not overly concerned. I do, as a citizen, consider it a waste of tax money; Syrian President Assad has a history of abuse against his own people. This will make no difference in how he operates. And to risk starting a war over what happens to Syrian civilians after denying them refuge here is a bit more than hypocritical. Not to mention, in all likelihood, the strike managed to kill off a lot of the civilians who might have sought refuge here if they hadn't been turned away. Still, I don't believe there will be any risk here. Russia made noises, yes; however, I have a sense that was more to deflect the suspicions of Trump's closeness to Putin, and to distract from some of the other investigations going on with Trump. I am sure the coming weeks will bring more and more information, some of which might even be factual. Assad isn't fazed. Russia isn't fazed. And China; they are going to just sit back, shake their heads, and say 'typical stupid round-eye children playing G. I. Joe in the sandbox.'.
So, Winter keeps it's grip, leaving us to keep ours. There is plenty of chaos around to make it easy for us to lose focus, but, we need hold onto our principles and remain cognizant of the current threats from within our very own borders. Winter will pass. Spring will come. Weather will continue to cause disasters ( so, we don't need to create any ourselves ). Baseball will continue to be the best game there ever was, and Donald the Trump will get no smarter, nor honest, nor worth the chemicals left if he were melted down.
As usual, if you've made it this far, this is just me, my opinion, and my self-therapy to keep me from doing something I might regret for a minute or two. Thanks for reading and, as usual, I will be sharing this to my Facebook page so that my data can be used to influence--something unimportant, if it's my data.
Last month, a hero, no, a idol of mine passed. Nokie Edwards, the lead guitarist/bassist of the instrumental surf band The Ventures, passed away. He, along with George Harrison, motivated my interest in guitar, and music, and I drove myself ( and everyone around me, I presume ) crazy with my attempts to play like either or both of them. I never succeeded, of course, as along the way I was influenced by a few others and ended up developing my own style, which was, I suppose, passable. I was never happy with it, but some were, enough so that I didn't lack for work in the field for a long while. I can no longer play ( physical reasons ) but I have never lost the pleasure of listening to those I so wanted to be. Thankfully, the music still can be heard, and should be, so the greats never really leave us. In their talent lies the secret of immortality.
The 2018 baseball season has begun, and my team, the San Francisco Giants, have been interesting to watch, after the disastrous 2017 season they had. As a fan, one should not be under the misconception that they have a chance at the playoffs ( baseball and playoffs...grrrr...), but the scant off season moves they made seem to have sparked a resurgence of sorts. Early key injuries -- a Giants tradition, one could say -- again cast doubt, but they are currently playing .500 ball. A vast improvement over 2017, even as early as this. They key factors thus far that I have seen are pitching, and defense. Both have been far better than I expected. Offensively, this team is not a lot different than last year's. However, if they can scratch out 3 or 4 runs, they have a chance now. And if they can take a lead into the late innings, a victory is possible. By this time last season it was obvious that having a lead in the 7th inning or later didn't mean anything; they would lose anyway. So far, not this season. I like what I have seen. Hopefully I will still like it once they have 40 or 50 games under their belts.
I see James Comey is coming out with a book. Most of us know who Comey is; those who don't, well, this IS the internet. You can look him up. A lot of Americans ( and more than a few folks from other Nations ) hold him responsible for tilting the last Presidential Election toward Donald Trump. I know I did. Still do, though I have come to realize I am being a bit unreasonable in that, given the outcome of the vote. Of course, he was also fired by the new President for a variety of reasons, none of which had anything to do with how he performed his job. In this new era of Civil Service Apprentice ( which is how Mr. Trump performs his Presidential duties ), a simple lack of offering a blood oath to the High Lord and Master Trump is enough. Not even published yet, the book alleges to offer some interesting insights into Mr. Trump. This has of course, so predictably, incited vociferous reaction from The Trump Zoo, with the White House flinging numerous insults and whiny comments directly at Mr. Comey. Disturbingly similar to baboons flinging feces at anyone foolish enough to loiter near their cages.
I honestly do not know if I will read it. Perhaps. It might be interesting. It is certainly a part of the history being made right now, and as such, is worth reading. If one is a Trump supporter, they will likely not read it, since it appears to be detrimental to the President and they will consider it as a pack of lies and fake recollections. If one is, on the other hand, a actual human being, one might read it only because it reaffirms their low opinion of the President as a person, so that even lies and exaggerations can be accepted as believable based on what we already know about the feces flinger. We don't need to, however, since we already consider the clown to be a dip-doodle; we are more concerned with the damage he and his little band of orangutans are doing to our republic and our Constitution. I probably should get it, though, while I can, because I strongly suspect that one of the current administration's goals is to ban and/or censor any material that even hints at being critical of the orange ape.
Just a while ago, it was announced that we ( the U.S.A. ), in a joint operation with the U.K. and France, sent air strikes to three targets in Syria. In response to the current Syrian regime's use of chemical warfare against it's own people. It has been announced this is a 'one and done' strike. And, to be honest, I am not overly concerned. I do, as a citizen, consider it a waste of tax money; Syrian President Assad has a history of abuse against his own people. This will make no difference in how he operates. And to risk starting a war over what happens to Syrian civilians after denying them refuge here is a bit more than hypocritical. Not to mention, in all likelihood, the strike managed to kill off a lot of the civilians who might have sought refuge here if they hadn't been turned away. Still, I don't believe there will be any risk here. Russia made noises, yes; however, I have a sense that was more to deflect the suspicions of Trump's closeness to Putin, and to distract from some of the other investigations going on with Trump. I am sure the coming weeks will bring more and more information, some of which might even be factual. Assad isn't fazed. Russia isn't fazed. And China; they are going to just sit back, shake their heads, and say 'typical stupid round-eye children playing G. I. Joe in the sandbox.'.
So, Winter keeps it's grip, leaving us to keep ours. There is plenty of chaos around to make it easy for us to lose focus, but, we need hold onto our principles and remain cognizant of the current threats from within our very own borders. Winter will pass. Spring will come. Weather will continue to cause disasters ( so, we don't need to create any ourselves ). Baseball will continue to be the best game there ever was, and Donald the Trump will get no smarter, nor honest, nor worth the chemicals left if he were melted down.
As usual, if you've made it this far, this is just me, my opinion, and my self-therapy to keep me from doing something I might regret for a minute or two. Thanks for reading and, as usual, I will be sharing this to my Facebook page so that my data can be used to influence--something unimportant, if it's my data.
Comments